Demand for electronic products has been increasing at an ever accelerating rate. In particular, demand for mobile electronic devices, such as telephones, game consoles, music players, flat screen televisions, laptop computers, and tablet computers, are becoming more prevalent in society than ever before. Such electronic devices and in particular, such mobile electronic devices can be damaged easily when exposed to environmental conditions, particularly humidity or moisture.
Typical electronic devices are housed within a casing formed in several sections that fit together and are secured by screws or by compression fittings. Such casings generally utilize gaskets to at least partially isolate the inside of the casing from the external environment.
In the mobile electronic devices industry, there is increasing pressure to reduce the weight and cost associated with devices. Oftentimes, the industry turns to lighter materials, such as plastics for the casings and seeks to use lighter materials for the gaskets and other components. However, thin-walled plastic casings can exhibit some degree of flexibility, placing additional strain on gaskets. Conventional gaskets that have poor response to repeated compression can fail to reform a seal between the casing portions after stress in adequate time to prevent dust and particulate from entering the device. Accumulation of dust and particulate can ultimately lead to degradation of device components and failure of the device.
Foam bonding tapes are ideal for a variety of applications where bonding and joining of components are needed, most prevalent in the electronic, automotive, and transportation industry. Bonding tapes reduce or eliminate the need for mechanical fasteners such as rivets or screws, liquid adhesives, or welds. This leads to shorten production periods, higher productivity, lower costs, and improved product appearance. Bonding tapes have a foam core based on polyurethane (PU), polyolefin, acrylic polymers, and others. Polyurethane foam cores show improved performance with respect to dissipating vibrations and distributing stress. However, conventional PU foam tapes may not meet all demands of the application. For instance, for large dimension parts such as car body side molding, there can be difference of thermal expansion and surface mismatch between the body side molding and the car body, which creates additional strain on the bonding tape. Over time, repetition of such additional strain can ultimately lead to degradation of the bonding between car body and the body side molding.
As such, improved sealing gaskets and bonding tapes would be desirable.
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